Bereits im Januar meldeten sich Thornhill mit dem Song „Arkangel“ zurück. Ihr erster neuer Song seit 2019. darauf folgte der Track „Hollywood“. Seit Anfang März wissen wir nun, am 03. Juni veröffentlicht die Band ihr neues Album „Heroine“. Passend dazu, konnten wir mit Frontmann Jacob Charlton über ihr neues Album sprechen. Was wir in Erfahrung gebracht haben, das erfahrt ihr nun hier.
Frontstage Magazine: After two EPs and your debut album „The Dark Pool“ (2019), your second album „Heroine“ is now about to get published. How does it differ from former works?
Jacob Charlton: The same way any release changes over time, you learn more about what you want to sound like, what you think is missing from the music you play and how you want the audience to perceive your growth. For us it was important to not only show what we had learnt from writing and performing, but that we had a broader understanding of how to represent atmosphere in a way you hadn’t heard from us.
Frontstage Magazine: How did the current Corona pandemic influence you during the recording of the album?
Jacob Charlton: Ethan and I were really able to work hard at our own writing methods individually, as we weren’t allowed to leave the house through the Victorian lockdowns. We hit a groove with our own creative processes by writing to moments in film, television and imagery and having the time to fixate and rabbit hole ideas that we wouldn’t normally feel comfortable exploring in a studio setting. This was a super freeing process and is something we will continue to develop as we move forward, which was a positive turn out of a 2 year stand still.
Frontstage Magazine: What is the meaning of the album title „Heroine“?
Jacob Charlton: The title itself is based around the song in terms of what it means to Ethan and I personally. The song was a huge breakthrough in the creative process as songwriters and is a nod to what we achieved while also referring to the women that influenced me as a singer over the course of the creative process. I found that female singers really opened my eyes to performing and owning a persona more than anything I’d heard before and it was something I came out of TDP wishing I had more knowledge on.
Frontstage Magazine: The album seems to be more personal and intense than its predecessor „The Dark Pool“ (2019). Does it only seem that way or was it intentionally?
Jacob Charlton: The themes and stories are certainly more dramatic which was the goal in the final outcome. Singing about “sadness” isn’t what I wanted to do as I believe the general emotion is an umbrella, picking a small, specific part of that emotion (or any emotion) and explaining it sonically and visually was one of the biggest goals of the record. Hopefully this is something that makes it feel more personal, as the listener can relate to it in a deeper sense, whether it be in their own character/story they imagine or in their own personal lives, I like the idea of listeners connecting in their own way instead of me spoiling it with my own connections, the songs are then everyone’s.
Frontstage Magazine: Metalcore is your home. For us „Heroine“ sounds like a mixture of metalcore and a very strong Deftones touch like they sounded 20 years ago. Would you agree?
Jacob Charlton: I’m sure it sounds different to everyone individually depending on what music you were moulded by over the span of your life. I don’t take much notice in what genre we are or what people perceive us as, in my opinion that’s where your mind creates invisible borders, we just create what we want to listen to and hope that people believe in what we’re doing.
Frontstage Magazine: This summer you are playing some shows in your home country Australia and in autumn you are touring through Europe together with Miss May I, August Burns Red and Bury Tomorrow. How does it feel to finally get back on stage and what role does Europe play in this?
Jacob Charlton: It’s been a great feeling to get back into being busy but also very overwhelming. Translating our sound and look into a live setting is very exciting and something we were able to get into straight away after just coming back from a 6 week USA tour so it’s safe to say we’re very keen to show this everywhere we play. We’re stoked to come back to Europe, especially as tourists because we love the cold and the scenery and had and had an amazing first tour there with Wage War in 2020 before we got locked down.
Frontstage Magazine: Our last question is always a bit out of line. When you come to Germany, what kind of food do you always look forward to? And why is it so good to you?
Jacob Charlton: I honestly can’t remember what we ate in Germany because our translator apps weren’t working and I think we ended up just getting McDonald’s but if you guys have Chocomel like Amsterdam had I’d definitely say that. When we come back with ABR I’ll definitely order some of Germany’s best and whatever you recommend!
Fotocredit: Jon Pisani
